Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

Sabkha Juboul, located south-east of Aleppo, hosts one per cent of the world’s population of a group of water birds that includes the flamingo, the endangered white-headed duck, and the greater white-fronted goose [ ] 215 Launching the Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Areas Management Project The National Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) launched in 2002 included considerations to decrease all environmental threats in devel- opment projects for the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. A key objective of the NBSAP is to protect all natural sites in forests and other natural eco- systems. In this regard, actions are ongoing to increase the percentage of land under protection. The action plan contains short and mid-term (1–5 years) objectives addressing: scientific studies on the status and trends in biodiversity, es- pecially of rare and endangered spe- cies and on increasing their numbers; the establishment of protected areas representing unique local varieties; capacity-building; the establishment of a national gene bank and a herbar- ium, especially for endemic species; and the identification of causes of biodiversity loss and adequate policy development. Long-term (6–10 years) objectives address: the establishment of a national network of protected areas representing all ecosystems and the establishment of biological agri- cultural practices for the sustainable use of biodiversity. Biodiversity considerations have been incorporated in numerous national policies, legislation, nation- al strategies, criteria and standards on environment impact assessment, partially in the Agricultural De- velopment Strategy, and in the new Forestry Law of 2007. Although good progress has been made in this regard, additional efforts are required to ensure mainstreaming in all rele- vant legislations and their appropri- ate application thereafter. The Syrian government launched the Biodiversi- ty Conservation and Protected Areas Management Project in 2005 to pre- serve plant and animal species and maintain their habitats in three na- ture reserves: Mount Abdel Aziz, the Farnalq Forest and Abu Qubais. The project aimed to build the capacities of reserve teams, motivate various stakeholders to engage in the conser- vation process and create additional income for reserve residents. It used innovative mechanisms to start local companies and raise awareness on and acceptance of the conservation objectives in the three pilot areas. The project has also continued to transfer the expertise to the Lajat reserve. The project’s main achievements included announcing 49,000 ha of land in Mount Abdel Aziz as a pro- tected area and recording over 1,016 plant varieties, 46 mammal species, 233 bird species and 54 reptile and amphibian species across the three new nature reserves. Some of the newly recorded species include the endangered wild peony, the three- lobed apple and the cotoneaster. Mishqita Lake Syrian Arab Republic S yria enjoys a wealth of biodiversity, both plant and animal, which is attributed to the diversity of its topography and climate. The country is located on the eastern side of the Mediterranean basin, between three continents, Asia, Europe and Africa. It has a total area of 185,180 km 2 , and varies in height between high mountain peaks at 2,814m in Al-Sheikh Mount and areas of 300m below sea level in the Golan Heights. Syria’s diverse ecosystems include coastal areas, mountains, forests, plateaus, desert plains, rivers, and saline ponds. Rain rates range from more than 1,000mm in the western and north-western parts to 120mm in the east. Somar Ahmad on flickr